VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe's Presidential Candidates Intensify Ca

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
24 March 2008

Campaigning in Zimbabwe is peaking as voters prepare to go to the polls Saturday to elect a president, national assembly, senate, and local leaders. Correspondent Scott Bobb takes a look at the candidates and some of the issues from our Southern African Bureau in Johannesburg.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe since he launched his campaign has pulled out all the stops in his bid to remain the only leader Zimbabwe has known since independence 28 years ago.

"This is the start, official start of our march to another victory, electoral victory," said Mugabe. "We certainly are going to win, it is the margin¹ we are trying to build."

Opposing Mr. Mugabe's bid for a sixth presidential term and the uninterrupted dominance of his ZANU-PF party is opposition² leader Morgan Tsvangirai, founder³ of the Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC. The former trade union leader told journalists in Johannesburg recently that Mr. Mugabe's autocratic style has ruined Zimbabwe.

"Mugabe is now not only the president of the country," said Tsvangirai. "He is the institution that has run our country for the last 30 years, and look at the results, unprecedented⁴ levels of decay and misrule and repression⁵."

"So he should be accountable. He has been the incumbent⁶ for the last thirty years, who else can be blamed for the problem that the country is facing," he added.

Tsvangirai says rigging robbed him of victory in the presidential vote of 2002. He boycotted⁷ the parliamentary elections three years ago which led a faction⁸ headed by Arthur Mutambara to split from his group.

The presidential campaign this year has been heightened by a third candidate, Simba Makoni. The former finance minister and Mugabe ally was expelled from ZANU-PF when he announced his candidacy after Mr. Mugabe was nominated at a ZANU-PF congress in December.

"When we emerged from the extraordinary congress and it was clear that the expectations -- the hope that I and many other party members had had that we would offer both the party and the country new leadership at the highest level -- had been quashed, I then decided⁹ it was time to offer myself," said Makoni.

Makoni is backed by Mutambara and reportedly by some important ZANU-PF leaders.

Both contenders are hoping to win because of popular unhappiness over Zimbabwe's economic crisis characterized by hyper-inflation, 80 percent unemployment and shortages of food, fuel and other basic goods.

Denis Kadima heads the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, which monitors elections and carries out voter education programs in the region. He says there have been some improvements in the atmosphere surrounding the campaign over previous elections.

"We get the impression that the level of violence is lower than it used to be in the past which is a positive thing, but we hope that other aspects which can't come out clearly now will also go in the right direction," said Kadima.

Human Rights Watch researcher for Zimbabwe, Tiseke Kasambala, agrees to a degree.

"Yes, at this stage in the campaign the levels of political violence are significantly lower than in the past and, yes, on paper the electoral laws have improved," said Kasambala. "But in terms of the rest of the conditions on the ground the electoral process is severely¹⁰ flawed and has been subjected to political involvement by the government and by the ruling the party."

Critics say there has been little voter education. Voter registration¹¹ lists and the demarcation of new voting districts have not been adequately publicized. Finally they note that the government has excluded observers from countries that it considers unfriendly, in Western Europe and the United States.

The director of the Washington-based Africa Action civic¹² group, Gerald LeMelle, says there is considerable support for the opposition.

"I think Zimbabweans want a change of leadership," said LeMelle. "What has happen is that the leadership, Robert Mugabe and the people who surround him have been in there a long time and typical of dictators who have been in there a long time, they have grown corrupt¹³ and their interests are simply personal and they are completely comfortable in allowing the country's economy to collapse¹⁴ the way it has."

But a programmer at Africa Action, Briggs Bonda, says that a splintered opposition is giving an advantage to Mr. Mugabe and the ruling party.

"The opposition has not been able to get its act together. If there was a unified¹⁵ platform for all opposition forces arranged against Mugabe that would be the only thing that would have had the capacity to inspire everyone, even people who are non partisan¹⁶, to feel like there is a common platform and go out and vote," said Bonda.

And there are fears of rigging, which observers like Kadima hope will be avoided.

"There has been a lot of attention and we are just hoping that the abuses of the past which are acknowledged by everyone will be of less magnitude this time," said Kadima. "But it's still early days."

He notes that more and more countries in Africa are holding fair and transparent¹⁷ elections and hopes Zimbabwe will join them. Opposition leaders are less optimistic but they continue to campaign, hoping at least to win a large number of seats in the assembly and local councils.

1 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

6 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

7 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

8 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

11 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

12 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

13 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

14 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

15 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

16 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

17 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。